Consistency: the piece people miss

In this other post about consistency, I mentioned that I cringe when people talk about consistency because it’s often used to force people, athletes included, to “just do it,” without taking ANY consideration at all in regards to WHY they might not be “doing it” in the first place. 

You see, while telling people they need to be more consistent to get results may work in the short term, might work well, there’s a good likelihood that the reason they weren’t being consistent in the first place is still there … waiting to cause problems at some point down the road … or waiting for this person to fall back into “old habits” once a short term goal was reached. 

I recently wrote a FB post that illustrated this scenario well because I see this happening when people get into essential oils too. They use it to treat a symptom (like not being consistent is a symptom) without bothering to go beyond that to the root of the issue. 

Here’s a snippet of what I wrote …

Are you allowing yourself to enjoy the FULL benefit of your oils and supplements?
 
To do so, you’ve gotta go BEYOND the symptoms …

What do I mean by that? So often, I see people use their oils when there’s a PRESSING issue.

Then, once it’s no longer pressing, they stop …
Even though the issue is still there and will flare back up again.

But we’ve been trained, in many ways, to simply “treat the symptom,” so it’s totally understandable that this is happening so often.

I encourage you to take it a step further.

It’s like going to the gym because you have to lose 5lbs. So you go for a month, lose the 5lbs, then stop.

Meanwhile, you haven’t changed anything about the way you eat, the way you sleep, your stress levels, your hydration, and so on.

How long do you think that 5lbs is gonna stay off?
Yeah, not very.

Because all of the underlying issues are still there (same can be said for “consistency”). You didn’t take the process far enough to shift those underlying factors that are contributing to the problem.

I see this happening with essential oils all the time. People use it to stop irritation or pain, but then, once that’s no longer a major annoyance, they stop.

Even when the underlying issue is still there. Even when the area isn’t fully healed yet, nor is it regularly supported in ways that would minimize future flare ups.

Don’t stop at that surface level.

Keep going … get beyond that annoying symptom and support your body at the root of what’s contributing to the problem.

When it comes to consistency … someone might “just do it” until they get a certain result, and then … they stop doing the things that got them to where they wanted to be so they go right back to where they used to be. 

Sometimes, it IS simply a matter of continuing to build that consistency muscle. Just like any other skill, including softball skills, that takes practice. No one is good or consistent, much less both, without practice and continually working to improve.

Other times, it’s worth doing some self reflection, examining WHY it is that you’re not showing up and being consistent in the first place.

What’s at the root of it?

This is the part that many people miss, the same way the people who just go to the gym to lose 5lbs miss all the other things that contributed to gaining the 5lbs in the first place.

It could very well be that there are some thoughts (some beliefs, some perspectives about your own ability, value, or worth) that are getting in the way. 

Clear those out, shift those thoughts, and you’ll see the difference in your actions, in your consistency with those actions, and, therefore, in your results too.

Something to think about 😉

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